From July 3 to 14, 2025, as part of the Brazil-France 2025 Cultural Season, the Senate & Lab’Bel present Cruzeiro do Sul (1969–1970), an iconic work by Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles.
Born in 1948 in Rio de Janeiro, Cildo Meireles is a major figure in conceptual art. Since the late 1960s, he has developed a body of work that is both political and sensorial, where materials, measurement systems, and power structures are questioned through sculptures and immersive installations.
Following previous showings in 1970 at Petite Galerie in Rio de Janeiro, in 2009 at Tate Modern in London, in 2013 at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, and in 2014 at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan, his work Cruzeiro do Sul will be exhibited for the first time in France this summer, in a show dedicated to the artist at the Orangerie du Sénat.
This initiative extends a dialogue begun with the artist in 2021, when Lab’Bel added a piece from the Inserções em circuitos ideológicos – Projeto Coca-Cola project to its collection. Meireles’ ability to subvert everyday objects, combined with the conceptual, sensorial, and often irreverent nature of his work, naturally led to a first collaboration around MonaVache, the 2024 edition of La Vache qui rit® Collector’s Box.
Behind its apparent simplicity, Cruzeiro do Sul offers a reflection on the history and preservation of Brazil’s Indigenous knowledge. The title refers to the constellation that appears on the Brazilian flag, historically used by sailors to navigate the Southern Hemisphere. The artwork thus brings together two narratives: on one hand, an Indigenous founding myth — organic, oral, resistant — and on the other, a reference to colonial conquest and its geographic and political stakes.
The oak and pine that comprise the piece recall a Tupi legend in which the discovery of fire is attributed to the friction of these two sacred woods. But they also broadly evoke the erasure of Indigenous cultures and the intensive exploitation of Brazil’s natural resources.
Cruzeiro do Sul fully embodies Cildo Meireles’ approach, at the crossroads of humiliminimalism — a reinterpretation of American minimalism through a Latin American lens, infused with other histories and cultural traditions — and the plays on scale that characterize his work. By inviting a gap between the perceived object and its political or symbolic significance, the piece resists immediate interpretation. It is up to each visitor to experience it at the Orangerie du Sénat, which, beyond being a mere display space, will act as an active component of the artistic installation.
HOW TO GET THERE
Dates: daily, from July 3 to 14, 2025, 11 am to 8 pm
Location: Orangerie du Sénat, Luxembourg Garden (entrance via Porte Férou, 19 bis rue de Vaugirard), Paris 6th arrondissement
Access: RER (Luxembourg-Sénat), Metro (Odéon, Mabillon, Saint-Sulpice), Buses 89, 84, 58
Free entry
Curated by Silvia Guerra and Laurent Fiévet